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  Matrix Screen Saver - Version 3.6 (updated 2/9/2009)


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What is the Matrix_ks screen saver?

This is my version of the Matrix screen saver. Very cool! It uses the authentic Matrix font from The Matrix movie. It includes a lot of custom options, see below for details. This is a new Version which I thought about renaming to "Matrix Reloaded", because it seems to fit that I have added a lot of features and improvements. :)


  • It's unique because it uses the actual matrix characters, not imitations.
  • Includes automatic support for 1-5 (and more) monitor configurations! You don't have to do anything, it will recognize your other monitors automatically.
  • You can choose color schemes! If you're tired of the lime green matrix animation, you can now choose red, yellow, white, blue, gold, pink, or even rotate each of them! You can also specify how often to rotate them.
  • Includes option to display an image within the Matrix - choose any jpg, set the location and transparency of the window!
  • Includes (optional) user and system information displayed at the top of the screen.
  • Includes option to display text from a text file (instead of user/system info). See screensaver settings window for options.
  • Includes an option mini-slideshow of images - displaying on a small CRT in the matrix. Cool! You choose a local image directory (supports bmp, gif, jpg, etc.), and it randomly displays the images (smart-sized for the small monitor they're shown in). Here are a few screenshots: pic 1,   pic 2. To find some good images, visit the official Matrix site. To get the best animation effect with this feature, use images at least around 400 pixels wide. :)
  • Includes options to play your favorite MP3 files while the screensaver plays. You can download this sample music text file (playlist file) which shows the format needed. The text file MUST be in the same folder as the screensaver.
    Here are simple instructions:
    • Save the sample file above to your local system.
    • Edit the sample playlist file and put the path of your MP3 instead of mine.
    • Drop it into your C:\windows\system folder (for example).
    • Go to the screensaver settings and under the Music tab, browse and select the C:\windows\system\Matrix-ks.txt file.
  • Under a new "Web Window" tab in the Settings window there's a COOL, new feature: the "web window". This optional feature allows you to specify a web page to show in the screensaver! It can be a local html page or a remote web page. What's cool is that you can simply code your own html page to show flash, quicktime, cgi, etc....or ALL the above! You also specify the location and size of the 'web window', so you can place it anywhere you like - positioning it on a certain monitor, etc. Obviously, this opens-up many options. What you can do is go to the official Matrix movie pages and download the high-res Quicktime movies and configure a page to show them horizontally, etc. You could also set-up your own slideshow of your images using your own flash or javascript functions. All kinds of ideas... Have fun with this and please donate to help support this starving artist. :)
    A sample of an html file with quicktime links is here.
    A cool site to automatically generate html for embedded media is here.
  • Improvements in the animation logic as well as mouse-movement stop of the screensaver.
  • Includes a small digital clock in the top-right of the screen.


What's New
  • Version 3.5 - 3.6:
    1. Enhancements to allow for more variances of resolution and monitor combinations. For example, if your main monitor is a laptop and your other monitors are larger, but not your main monitor, just set the monitor configuration options in the screensaver settings window.
    2. Added the Purple matrix color option.
    3. Allow the Rotate Color option of 0 minutes, which will rotate the color about every 10 seconds. If you UNcheck the "transition quickly" option, this creates a really interesting effect as it rotates the colors, continually overlapping the colors.
    4. You can choose a JPG image to show in the matrix! You can also set the location of the image as well as the transparency level! If you set the transparency to 50, the image looks like it's within the matrix. This is fun for logos or other favorite jpgs.
    5. Other misc fixes and improvements.
  • Version 3.2 - 3.4:
    1. The clock font color is customizable (see screensaver Setting window).
    2. Multi-monitor custom configuration improved - now you can set the starting height position.
    3. Other misc fixes and improvements.
  • Version 3.0 - 3.01:
    1. Added two new colors: Gold, and Pink (for the female geeks out there). ;)
    2. Multi-monitor custom configuration - you can optionally specify your left-most monitor, width and height resolutions. This is for those who have odd/custom monitor configurations.
    3. Other minor fixes and improvements.
  • Version 2.3:
    1. Cool new feature: the "web window". This optional feature allows you to specify a web page to show in the screensaver! It can be a local html page or a remote web page. What's cool is that you can simply code your own html page to show flash, quicktime, cgi, etc....or ALL the above! You also specify the location and size of the 'web window', so you can place it anywhere you like - positioning it on a certain monitor, etc. Obviously, this opens-up many options. What you can do is go to the official Matrix movie pages and download the high-res Quicktime movies and configure a page to show them horizontally, etc. You could also set-up your own slideshow of your images using your own flash or javascript functions. All kinds of ideas... Have fun with this and please donate to help support this starving artist. :)
      A sample of an html file with quicktime links is here.
      A cool site to automatically generate html for embedded media is here.
      Any additional files MUST be in the same folder as the screensaver.
    2. Monitor tab added - new config. options coming soon...
    3. Other efficiencies and minor improvements.
  • Version 2.21:
    1. Added the White color theme.
    2. The top text color and text LCD background colors now automatically change based on the color theme, as well as the clock text color.
    3. Other efficiencies and minor improvements.
  • Version 2.20:
    1. If your main monitor is on the bottom with the other on top, it now blacks-out the bottom monitor - yeah, it's just a temp. improvement. :)
    2. Music! A new "Music" tab has been added to the settings window. You can now specify a music play list (plain text file) of any MP3's files! See download links for a link to the sample text file. The text file MUST be in the same folder as the screensaver.
    3. Other efficiencies and minor improvements to the picture show and other logic.
  • Version 2.12:
    1. If your main monitor is on the right, it now shows the screensaver on both screens. If you have a tri-screen, this 'should' work as well.
    2. You can now set the color of the clock font.
  • Version 2.10:
    • The mini-slideshow now runs with a lower priority, so the matrix code animation doesn't slow as much on older machines.
    • Mouse movement screensaver abort is defaulted to off/false. You must click the mouse to abort the screensaver, unless you have the mousemove option checked.
    • Setting tabs are more intuitive.
    • Code speed setting added. You can now adjust the speed of the matrix code!
    • You can define top position of mini-slideshow window (relative to screen area).
    • You can select image transition types, including 'random'. Very cool!
    • You can define the delay time of the transition frames.
    • Other misc. improvements. I welcome your feedback, suggestions and donations. :)


Matrix_ks screen shot
Above screenshot shows the Matrix screensaver with the "blue" color option.

Matrix_ks screen shot
Below is a screenshot with the newer features including the white matrix option and the web window option with four quicktime movies playing at the bottom of screen. Click thumbnail for larger view.
Matrix_ks screen shot 2


  • Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, Win2k, XP, Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, possibly the buggy Windows 10.


This is donationware. Please donate to help support the Author.

Donate to Kelly Software



Matrix_ks Screensaver:
Download latest Version (3.6): Matrix_ks.exe (~1.6 meg - includes install/uninstall).
If you can't get the install to work, you can download the files in a zipped file and install manually.

Download older Version 3.4: Matrix_ks_304.exe (~1.6 meg - includes install/uninstall)

Download really old Version 2.3: Matrix_ks_v2_3.exe (~1.5 meg)


Other downloads:
Movie clip downloads for display in the screensaver. Note: You might want to convert these to SWF (flash) or use HTML5, so they'll autoplay and autoreplay better in the screensaver. Keep in-mind, this screensaver allows for any html to be shown in the html window (see screensaver options). Just use your Embed tags, etc, to show the clips however you like.
These movie clip files are posted on SendSpace.com


Forums

I had some requests for a forum for the screen saver - tips/tricks, ideas, suggestions, questions, etc. So, I've created a Google Group, hoping this will meet the needs. Anyone can join. Feel free to visit and add comments, ideas, etc:
http://groups.google.com/group/kelly-software



FAQ

  1. What do I do when I use multiple monitors with different resolutions?
    This is why I added the Monitor configuration tab. You can specify the exact dimensions of your full set of monitors. Remember: Everything is based on your main monitor.

    Here's an example:
    If you have 800x600 on your main monitor and on the right you have your second monitor at 1024x768.
    Left-most: 0
    (this is 0 because your main monitor is the first (leftmost) monitor).
    Right-most: 1824
    (this is basically the full width of all monitors: 800+1024 )
    Start height: 0
    (this is usually 0, unless you have monitors stacked on top of each other, etc)
    Total height: 1368
    (The height is the total height (pixels) of all your monitors heights added together: 600+768 )

  2. How do I use the text file feature?
    Go to the screensaver settings for this screensaver. You'll see a tab labelled "Top Text Display". In that tab, you'll see options to use a text file to display the top text displayed in the screensaver. There is not currently an option to have the screensaver display Both the system info and your text file at the same time.




These are comments from people who have downloaded my Matrix screen saver:
  • "Your matrix SS is the best I found."
  • "I Love the Matrix Screensaver! Totally awesome! Everytime I pass it on I will make sure you receive a $5 donation!Totally worth it!"
  • "Your Matrix Screen Saver MUCH better than the Warner one!"
  • "AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! Mind blowing job!!! I got goose bumps when I saw my name appear on the screen! WICKED!!!"
  • I must say I'm extremely impressed with all the nifty, small utilities that you posted. They are great, they are gud, they are AWESOME ! thank a bunch
  • I just thought i'd give you some compliments, this screensaver is BRILLIANT. Its the first matrix style screensaver i've found that actually works with my dual head setups. I have it on all 5 of my machines now, and it looks very very cool :P Not only that, but it fits my red\black theme perfectly.
  • I found your site while I was searching for *cough* ANOTHER multimonitor Matrix screensaver, but I am so damn glad that I found yours instead. Yours is, by far, the very nearly infinitely superior product. The graphics are amazing and the interface is top-notch and user-friendly; the total experience is almost too good to believe, but it's for real...it's incredible! Well done.
  • Thank you for an excellent contribution. You have my sincere respect.
  • "The Matrix screen saver is GREAT, hats off to you."
  • "Great Matrix screen saver!"
  • "Ok, I just formatted and lost the matrix_ks saver so I came back like 2 days ago and found it totally updated omgomgomg!!"
  • "Thank you for the matrix screen saver its cool and I will be back to this site in the future for more!"
  • "Very well done"
  • "The Matrix Screensaver is awesome! I love it, good work."
  • "Just wanted to take the time to let you know that you did a great job on that screen saver it is real good!"
  • "I love your Matrix screensaver. It is the best of all that I have seen."
  • "Oh MAN! The Matrix is like LITERALLY being IN the Movie! WOW!!!!!!"
  • "I LOVED your matrux screen saver! THANKS SOO MUCh! it is better than all of the other ones! none of the other ones worked on my machine... or they were too slow and didnt look right...your worked PERFECTLY and it was ausome. you people RULE!!!"
  • "This is the best matrix screensaver I have seen. The last one I had from like 5 years ago only ran in 256 color mode with no way to adjust the speed or color. Thank you for taking the time to create such a cool screensaver. You did a much better job than Warner Bros. by a long shot."
  • "The Matrix code scrensaver is not only the best one around that i have found, its looks authentic, especially with my 3 monitors showing it. Perfect, just perfect. I am going to tell my friends about you. good luck with everything."
  • "Thanks for creating such a great Matrix screensaver! When I saw it posted, I didn't think that I would like the different color schemes (figured I'd just keep it set to standard green), but now the changing colors are my favorite thing about it!"
  • "I really enjoyed your Matrix screensaver, thank you for your effort. It's the best I found, keep up the good work! Other ones really s*cked, they went really fast, and didnt take up the whole screen, yours is a eleven out of ten, others, 0.1 out of ten. thank you for the best matrix screensaver out there, Thanks!"
  • "I just have to congratulate Kelly Software for standing up to your reputation for having the best Matrix screen saver, It's true."
  • "Dude, that was AAAAWWWWWWWWWEEEEEESSSSOOOOOMMMMMMMEEEE!"
  • "Hello, By far, your screensaver is the best and only screensaver that comes close to the movie I have ever seen and have come across (a lot better than the screensaver on the official site). Again, excellent work and keep it up!!"
  • "This is the best I've seen, great job. As soon as I get a paypal account I'll send some your way. I hated the slide shows in other versions but this has the option of not having them so that's great. Very very good saver! Thanks." - Josh from MN




Known issues:
  1. The mouse-move abort still isn't working perfectly. Something is still triggering it to abort the screensaver - without you moving the mouse. If you find this happens to you, just uncheck the option in the settings to not abort for mousemoves.
  2. Phil says: "I had installed some new video codecs on my Vista machine, and suddenly my screensaver had stopped working. Even after uninstalling the codecs, the problem remained. Despite the suggestions you sent me (which were, granted, pretty good ones) nothing I tried resolved the issue. Finally, though, I recently figured it out. Somehow, Vista's "Data Execution Prevention", which is supposed to protect Vista system files, was shutting down the screensaver every time it started. Despite what Vista thinks, I'm pretty sure the freakin' screensaver isn't going to destroy my system, so I turned "DEP" off (or, rather, told it to only run on actual system files, instead of all files), and I suddenly had my screensaver back! I just wanted to give you the heads-up about this in case anyone else has experienced a similar problem. Thanks for a great program!"

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Matrix_ks (Matrix) screen saver, home page for my Matrix screensaver.